Allergen
by LaylaBinx
Summary: When Ben receives an unusual phone call from Riley, he rushes over to find his best friend in a rather unusual predicament. Pointless fluff! BenXRiley friendship fluff
1. Help

**Yay!! This a completely pointless story but the damn plot attached itself to me like a leech and refused to leave until I had written it -.-; Hope you enjoy!!**

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Ben groaned deep in his throat as his cell phone began to ring yet again in his pocket. The history professor cast him an annoyed glance and kept talking, raising his voice a little to be heard over the ring tone. Fumbling into his pocket, Ben pressed the "end call" button and lowered the volume once again, letting it sit on vibrate for the time being. 

Ben was quite perturbed to say the least. He'd been asked to make a presentation at a local university earlier in the week and, upon arrival, discovered it was probably one of the worst ideas he'd ever agreed to. The professor had no idea what he was talking about and frequently made mistakes with his historical references. Not only that, he'd been rude to the treasure hunter since his arrival that morning and was doing everything within his power to make Ben seem like an idiot. And, to top it all off, riley had been calling non-stop for about and hour and half now.

In the past hour, Riley had called 8 times and sent at least 4 text messages, all of which Ben ignored completely. To be honest, he wasn't all that happy with his young friend either. Riley had completely bailed on their plans for dinner the night before and left Ben sitting alone at the table for a little over an hour before he'd finally left. When the older man had called him to ask what exactly happened, the computer tech simply replied something had come up and left it at that. So now, after two full days of not speaking to him, Riley was desperately trying to get a hold of Ben and the older man wasn't having it.

The phone began to vibrate again and Ben sighed in frustration as the professor gave him another dirty look. Figuring it would be a good excuse to get out of that God-forsaken classroom for a few minutes Ben stood and quietly excused himself from the room. He stepped into the hall and flipped open the phone, speaking quietly. "This better be good, Riley. What is it?" He snapped a little harsher than he'd meant to but his best friend's behavior lately had really pissed him off.

"Ben…help..." Riley groaned over the phone, his voice sounding tired and strained.

All senses alert and anger forgotten, Ben straightened immediately and pulled the phone closer. "Riley? What's wrong? Are you alright?" He whispered urgently, making his way down the hall to the exit. To hell with the presentation.

"I can't move…" The younger man groaned, coughing softly on the other end of the line.

"Are you at the apartment? Look, stay where you are, I'll be there in five minutes, okay?!" Ben couldn't keep the panic out of his voice any longer as he burst through the doors and took off across the parking to his car.

**OOOOO**

Ben practically leaped out of the car as he pulled to stop in front of Riley's apartment. He raced to the front door and, after fighting with his key ring for a minute, shoved the key into the lock and opened the door.

The lights were off and the air conditioner had been kicked down so low it made him shiver as he stepped inside. "Riley…?" Ben called quietly, looking around the room for any sign of the younger man.

"I'm in here…" A soft voice called from somewhere off in the living room.

Concern swelling in the pit of his stomach, Ben walked to the living room, his eyes widening at the sight of his best friend. "Well this is new…"


	2. Well This is New

**Hehe...poor Riley...**

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"Shut up Ben, it's not funny…" Riley muttered as his best friend tried and failed to hide his helpless giggles.

"Right…And how, exactly, did you get into this position?" Ben desperately wanted to still be angry at his young friend but found it much harder when was Riley was caught in such an odd situation.

Riley was currently laying flat on his back in the middle of the living room with five tiny kittens asleep on his stomach and chest. Each one was curled into a neat little ball and their purring could be heard from the doorway.

"Wednesday I was on my way home from the store and saw this cardboard box sitting outside." Riley began, absently petting one if the little animals. "I didn't think anything of it at first but when I walked by I could hear this really pitiful little noise coming from the box. When I looked inside, I found them."

"I thought you were allergic to cats." Ben said, stepping closer and sitting on the couch next to his friend.

"I am…!" Riley exclaimed, his eyes bloodshot and watery.

"So why did you keep them?"

"Because no one else wanted them…" The younger man's voice trailed off as he looked at the sleeping kittens. "Ben, someone left them in a cardboard box to fend for themselves. Hell, I don't think they've had their eyes open for more than a week let alone being old enough to be taken from their mother yet." He sighed quietly and sneezed. "When I was leaving it was starting to rain and I knew they wouldn't make it on their own so I just picked up the box and took them with me…"

Ben smiled warmly at the story and reached down to stroke one of the kitten's back. The tiny animal stretched and yawned, a soft mew tinkering from its throat. "Well, seems like you've got a handful alright. Is this why you ditched me the other night?"

Riley blushed and looked down. "Yeah…I'm sorry about that, Ben, but I couldn't leave them here alone. I went to the pet store and bought some formula and spent most of the night trying to get them to eat. By the time I looked up, it was already 10 o'clock and I knew you would've left already."

"Well, you could have just told me sooner." Ben pointed out, his fingers stroking through the silky fur. "So how did they all end up on top of you?"

The younger man sneezed again and groaned. "They cried all night long. I had a friend growing up that used to raise cats and he told me the only way to get a kitten to be quiet is to hold it close to your chest. You know, because kittens are used to hearing their mother's heartbeat?" He motioned toward his chest and gave Ben a pitiful look. "It worked…"

"How long have you been laying here?"  
"Since 5 am."

Ben glanced at his watch and raised an eyebrow when he saw it was almost 9:30. "You've been pinned to the ground for four hours?"

"Yes, and I have to pee like crazy!"

"Riley, they're cats…"

"Yes," Riley countered, completely serious. "And do you know what it's like to have five, tiny, pissed off kittens claw you at the exact same time? It's not fun, Ben…my stomach looks like modern art..."

Ben laughed and very gently began to pluck the kittens from Riley's chest. They whined pitifully for a few seconds before they were placed into the large, warm pockets of Ben's jacket. Once inside, the purring began again and they fell back asleep.

Free for the first time in almost five hours, Riley rushed into the hallway and slammed the bathroom door closed behind him. After a few minutes, the toilet flushed and he emerged, blowing his nose on a tissue. "God…so much better…" He flopped down on the couch next to Ben and plucked a kitten from his pocket, cradling it to his chest and making soft shushing noises.

"Alright, mama, so what are their names?" Ben asked, smirking as Riley shot him a dirty look for the "mama" comment.

"Well, the orange one's name is Jack, the grey one is Jeff, the other grey one is Del, the white one with the brown spots is Anna, and the black one is Charlie."

The older man raised an eyebrow as he thought over the names. "Can I ask where the names came from?"

"Andrew Jackson, Thomas Jefferson, Delaware, Annapolis, and I just like the name Charlie…"

"Of course you do."

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**Still like it? Yes?? No??**


	3. New Mom

"You realize you have to keep them now that you've named them, right?"

"You think Abigail wants a cat?"

Ben laughed, knowing Riley would rather rip out a tooth than give away one of the kittens. He stroked one's head gently and held it close, leaning back against the couch. "Okay, well you're either going to have to become un-allergic to cats or sign a contract with Claritin-D for a lifetime supply of pills."

"Ahh, the excitement of being a new mom…" Riley muttered, leaning onto Ben's shoulder and relaxing with the kitten in his palm. Ben shifted so the younger man's head was in his lap and gently brushed some hair from his face.

"We're going to have to take them to the vet to get shots in a little while." Ben said absently, completely entertained by the tiny kitten paws that had wrapped around his fingers.

"Yeah…you're right…usually are…" Riley spoke softly and slowly, his speech slurred by fatigue. His body began to relax and he unconsciously snuggled closer to his friend, the steady rhythm of the older man's heartbeat causing him to drift off to sleep.

Ben smiled down at his sleeping companion and shrugged a little. "Like mother, like child." He muttered softly, placing his kitten onto Riley's chest and leaning further back into the couch cushions. He picked up the remote and flipped through the channels, occasionally stroking a combination of kitten and Riley at the same time.

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**Awww...I think one of my teeth just rotted...**


End file.
